Industries unite to combat greenhouse gases

By Laura Sanchez

It's as close to a miracle as we've seen lately in the Land of Enchantment. Take 40 people from wildly different backgrounds and viewpoints, set them a killer deadline and give them the impossible job of designing a lifeboat for New Mexico.

Local activist travels to Oaxaca to interview those embroiled in all sides of the movement

By Marisa Demarco

As the Mexican political climate continues to boil, Albuquerque's Rebeca Jasso-Aguilar will journey to Oaxaca on a fact-finding mission. She'll travel with the Oaxaca Solidarity Network from Dec. 16 through 22, interviewing the protesters whose May strike lasted months and gained international attention. She'll speak with human rights groups investigating claims of police abuse suffered by protesters.

Pork-Induced Paralysis--I took a much deserved day off last Tuesday. I had contracted a scorching case of dysentery from eating cheap pork sausage--purchased at a massive corporate catch-all that has overtaken every small town in America like some terrifying economic Genghis Khan. It is, sadly, the only affordable food depot in my new hometown (Alamogordo) for the woefully underfinanced wordsmith.

At the Dec. 4 meeting, councilors elected leaders for the coming year. District 2 Councilor Debbie O'Malley is the new president and District 7 Councilor Sally Mayer is the new vice-president, both elected unanimously. Councilors thanked each other for their service during the previous year and praised outgoing President Martin Heinrich, calling him considerate, compassionate and honorable, and noting that the Council had seen less acrimony during his term than in recent years.

How insurance companies control our heath care

By Jerry Ortiz y Pino

Last week, as it has each year for the past decade, the Center for Policy Alternatives, a progressive think tank in our nation’s capitol, convened a meeting of state legislators, advocates, state analysts and savvy resource people from academia and the halls of Congress.

Dateline: Tennessee--An American Airlines flight from Washington Reagan National Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth was grounded early last Monday due to severe flatulence. American flight 1053 was forced to make an emergency landing in Nashville after passengers reported smelling struck matches, said Lynne Lowrance, a spokesperson for Nashville International Airport. The plane landed safely. Fearing terrorist activity, the FBI, Transportation Safety Administration and airport authority responded to the emergency. The passengers and crew were removed from the plane along with the luggage and sent through security screenings once again. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought onboard the aircraft and located some spent matches. The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a sudden attack of bodily odor. According to Lowrence, the woman lives near Dallas and has a medical condition. The flight eventually took off from Nashville, but the gassy woman was not allowed back on the plane. “American has banned her for a long time,” Lowrance said. While it is legal to bring as many as four books of paper safety matches onto an airplane, it is illegal to strike them.

[RE: Newscity, “Building Boundaries,” Nov. 23-29] I really don’t think it is that big of a deal that the Four Hills residents want their kids to go to Manzano. It is only a matter of about nine students transferring from Highland. Some Highland proponents may see it as a race and class issue, but who cares? I think they would be better off without the rich kids there, anyway.